Is your wi-fi open to hacking?

A specially modified bike will be on the streets of Edinburgh testing for insecure wi-fi spots that cybercriminals can use to hack into computers.

Security expert James Lyne will cycle through the capital, flanked by two police outriders, to test how safe homes, businesses and mobile phones are from rogue hackers.

The project is called "warbiking". Mr Lyne, the head of global security at Sophos. has warned that insecure wi-fi connections can be hacked from several hundred metres away, allowing hackers to intercept email, monitor web traffic and even gain access to internet banking accounts.

He has offered two pieces of advice to make wi-fi connections more secure: "Number one is get yourself a good secure password.

"The second thing is, in your network wireless equipment that you were given by your broadband provider, you need to look for a security setting called Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2 (WPA2)... that is the secure one.

"Go and check the wireless network and make sure you are using the more up-to-date configuration".